The Abston Garage, built by Tom Abston sometime not long after 1915, has been a fixture on the Oliver Springs landscape for close to a century now.

Built on the property that was once owned by the Wiley family, the brick structure was laid by masons Johnny Cox and John McNamara. Abston, a master mechanic, was responsible for running the electric plant in town that operated on a subscription basis, with the monthly charge being based on how many light bulbs were used in one’s home or business.

We are pleased to see that Rockwood has fielded an ample pool of qualified candidates for the city administrator job.

We expect that city council members will have a harder time than usual eliminating candidates to get down to their final choice.

However, we cannot let the retirement of former city administrator Jim Hines pass without comment.
Hines served both the cities of Rockwood and Harriman loyally and with integrity for many years.
We know him to be a man of intelligence and depth.

As you know, knowledgeable reader, the Republican Party finally achieved their goal of complete control of the legislature last year.

This control was supposed to have numerous glorious consequences too numerous to enumerate, but, in short, we were to have entered a new golden age; an age in which miracles would be so numerous as to be commonplace.

Had the victors in this power play been folks of outstanding statesmanship, or sense, or perception, possibly the outcome might have been as advertised.

“Welcome to chaos,” Stephanie House, 64, said upon entering her and her husband John’s Dogwood Animal Rescue Monday afternoon.

The House family has operated their rescue facility, a licensed foster program through Boston Terrier Rescue of East Tennessee, from their home on Dogwood Road in Rockwood’s Ozone community for the past two years.

Emergency officials in one Ohio town had their hands full earlier this week after dozens of wild animals, including lions, tigers and bears, were let loose from a sanctuary.

“These animals were on the move,” Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz said during a press conference Wednesday. “They were showing aggressive behavior. Once the nightfall hit, our biggest concern was having these animals roaming.”

Reports said the owner of the sanctuary let the animals out of their cages before shooting himself.